By Alexander Mitchell,
Senior Consultant | Low/No-Code MOM Excellence
Problem Statement
A standardized Tulip application was built and implemented across 3 customer sites to increase process standardization and minimize the impact of system validation. User requirements and functional requirements were determined based on the sites' business requirements and constraints. Although a singular application was designed and validated, tailoring functional requirements to accommodate multiple sites’ needs presented unique challenges that required mitigation for a successful app deployment.
Our Client
Our client is a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer with a goal to reduce paper count in facilities by 100% by the end of 2027. In addition, the client has a global goal to standardize digital tools across local sites. Our client made the decision to adopt Tulip, a low-code frontline operations platform that emphasizes a composable system architecture. Because of its modular infrastructure, Tulip is the ideal system for templatizing single operation workflows into individual standardized applications. With this approach, our client pursued standardized application templates to be adapted locally according to individual site specifications and procedures.
The client identified that across 3 target sites, business processes were consistent enough to pursue a hyper-local standardized application across the three target sites. While application design and development were approached using standard Tulip Solution Design principles, tailoring functional requirements across multiple sites presented challenges that complicated app deployment.
Challenges
A successful standardized app implementation hinges on the alignment of all stakeholders, as the application’s functional requirements need to reflect each site’s business process. In contrast, project pitfalls seem to scale with the size of the stakeholder team. When factoring in participants from all 3 target sites, it is incredibly difficult to organize the necessary application design review sessions in a timely manner. In addition, any redundant or duplicated sessions can create separate lines of dialogue that differ based on the attendees of each meeting. This segregation of information can create a risk of differing expectations amongst the stakeholder team.
True alignment can also be jeopardized by complacency amongst the project team. Although large stakeholder teams tend not to suffer from a lack of resources, complacency amongst one site can create discrepancies between application functional requirements and total adherence to all sites’ business and quality requirements. These discrepancies can lead to critical requirements being missed in the scope of the application design.
Scope expansion or scope creep is another common pitfall that is compounded under a standardized approach. When new requirements are introduced under a locked scope, there is a need to reconvene as an entire stakeholder team to ensure that alignment is still intact. Any necessary realignment can create lengthy delays to application deployment and friction amongst the stakeholder teams.
Our Approach to Standardized App Delivery across multiple sites
Given the challenges involved with such a standardized approach to app delivery, an organized and formal app deployment plan is paramount to project success. To help mitigate potential communication challenges, we organized daily touchpoints with all stakeholders to discuss project updates in a timely fashion. Daily touchpoints were used to centralize any recommendations or questions that were tabled during isolated review sessions. Daily meetings were also utilized to flag potential changes to scope in urgent fashion, allowing the team to mitigate potential delays by organizing realignment session as necessary. Alongside daily touchpoints, we organized weekly project planning meetings to track project stage gates and overall timelines. Isolated sessions were organized on an Ad-Hoc basis with the expectation that the meeting attendees update the overall project team of any necessary findings or conclusions.
Fig. 1: Risk and Mitigation throughout various steps in the solution design process.
Alongside a structured and centralized method of communication, collaboration across sites was emphasized to guarantee that application requirements were vetted properly. Site liaisons were identified amongst stakeholder teams to ensure that each site is properly represented, and site stakeholders remain diligent. Business and quality representatives from each site worked directly with counterparts from other sites to understand site-specific business processes and constraints. This not only enabled the team to find compromise to adhere to site-specific requirements but also catalyzed open conversations, driving requirements gathering and application design.
Conclusion
As clients continue to grow their digital footprint, standardization is becoming a larger priority in the industry. Because standardized solutions present unique challenges, a robust deployment plan built around centralized communication, strong collaboration, and an agile mindset is foundational for a successful standardized app deployment.
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Our Company
FrontWell Solutions is an expert in the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process. Our team of experts is engaged in providing digital solutions to 12 of the 20 leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, and medical device companies and suppliers spanning Europe, the United States, and Asia.
Our expertise lies in delivering specialized consulting services, primarily centered around Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), seamlessly integrating these Level 3 systems with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms and driving Manufacturing Intelligence initiatives such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) reporting.
Moreover, we have partnered with prominent digital solutions platforms in the market, showcasing our proficiency in leveraging cutting-edge technology.
We can support you with our well-trained LabVantage experts (Business Analysts and Solution Engineers) as well as our Validation Excellence Team with long-term experience in the field.
Get in Touch with Our Experts
Thinking about taking your next steps towards the digitalization journey?
We are ready to support you! Contact us under ReachUs@frontwell-solutions.com
or via +49 (6101) 595 89 85.
Case Study: Standardizing Biopharmaceutical Operations: A Case Study in Multi-Site App Deployment